The Gift

Journeying through Advent

we look for perfection

for everything done and dusted

the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed

everything wrapped up and beautifully finished off

because it’s all in the presentation .

But you are so untidy, God.

You send a baby

who girns and soils,

needs fed and changed

who kicks off the covers and won’t lie still

and you ask us to care for this baby God

We can’t do that in our good clothes

in our pristine homes

because babies bring mess and chaos

and noise and upheaval.

They don’t fit into perfectly ordered lives.

God, give us the ability to tear up our schedules

and to give up our tidiness

and allow you, playful God

to muss our hair

and crumple our clothes

and, as we learn to care for you

may we also care for each other   

in all our untidiness.

Liz Crumlish December 2011